The invention relates to a tread for a pneumatic tire, the tread having a tie bar connected to and extending between first and second elements in the tread. The first and second elements are an equal lateral distance for any plane parallel to the tire's equatorial plane EP. The tread is particularly well-suited for use on high performance tires, and especially for use on wet road surfaces.
Tires used for racing and other high performance vehicles require good performance in a variety of tire performance parameters, such as cornering and turning response, steering responsiveness, braking responsiveness, durability, and wet and dry traction. Ideally, the tires permit the vehicle to perform to its full design potential regardless of the road conditions. For example, the tires ideally will be capable of maintaining traction in high speed turns, transfer the acceleration torque the engine produces to the road without spinning the tires, provide braking traction at high speed capable of stopping the vehicle in as short a distance as is feasible without damaging the tires or vehicle, and provide a tire with reasonable tread wear.
To meet the needs of the high performance vehicles, certain improvements in the tires have been desirable.
The present invention allows for certain improvements in these parameters while providing an attractive design appearance for high performance tires.